7 replies to this topic

[DocMD]

Taken during the October 31 Blue Moon. 
Speed limit sign is lit by passing traffic (brake lights) and a signal light in the (near) distance. 
Opinions appreciated. Having trouble with my “compositional sense.”

 

~M.D.

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[Merco_61]

May I show on the first one how I would recompose it?

[DocMD]

Please!

[Merco_61]

 

As you see, I have decentered the moon further than in your version and straightened the speed limit sign and power pole. If a point of interest is close to the center, it will render a feeling of calm and tranquility.

If, on the other hand, the point of interest is about a third in from an edge, you get a less calm rendering. Here, I could get the moon on the third-line and the sign in the bottom right ninth of the frame.

For the third one, I would have cropped the black-only part on the left away, maybe lightened the dark edge of the clouds a bit and made a second shot exposed for the moon so I could make a composite of the two shots and have both well-exposed clouds and an equally well-exposed moon.

[DocMD]

Thanks for the input. I actually played with it a little and cropped the lower right corner from it. Didn’t post the cropped version. Considered straightening it, as you did, but just posted the originals to get honest opinions. 
For the moon shot, I pulled the whole thing in closer, trying to put the moon on the intersection of the upper and left third lines. 
I was an interesting night. Took my wife with me, found a (relatively) dark road, and waited for the moon to peek through the clouds. The little bit of passing traffic made interesting effects, IMO. My wife was actually the one who suggested adding the sign and power pole. I was fiddling with the tripod and ball-head and didn’t even notice that it was so askew, or that the top of my truck cab was in the shot. Just gotta get out there a lot more.

[krag96]

That third shot is very interesting, like Peter said, some cropping would do it better.

 

May I ask what your camera, lens, and settings were?  I would like a little more detail in the moon, the clouds are great!  Like Peter said, maybe a second shot of the moon itself with more detail ignoring the clouds. 

 

I never use a tripod for moon shots, it just gets in the way and slows things down with rapid moving clouds, and with the ISO and shutter speeds I use it's just not needed.  I generally choose ISO at 500-800, match the shutter speed as close to it as I can, and use a medium slow lens setting of f16-f19 ignoring what the camera meters.  You're shooting a bright ball against a dark sky and the camera will mislead your settings.

[DocMD]

Thanks, krag.

I use a D5600. Was using my 18-55mm kit lens. Set at 27mm, f22, 10s exposure. Hands aren’t real steady, IMO, but I will experiment with the settings you suggested.

[krag96]

You can get some pretty good detailed shots of the moon with a 200+mm lens and those rough settings.  Experiment and find what works for you and your gear as those are general settings I use with a D700 and a 200-300mm lens. 

 

Here's one I got this past spring, enlarged on Affinity with those rough settings.